Finn's Secret
by TurnThePaige
Summary: -WARNING: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ FOREST BORN!- Finn is keeping something from Enna. Can Enna uncover the truth, or will the two be pulled apart? Okay, that sounds melodramatic, but just read and review please!


**WARNING: THIS STORY OCCURS _AFTER_ FOREST BORN! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THAT BOOK!  
Okay, so here's my inspiration for this story. I overheard my friend Tia saying that I would _"eat her alive"_ if I heard what she said. I finally got her to tell me that she had said a bad word, and she knew I didn't like it when people swore. Anyway, later on, I came up with the perfect comeback to her comment! All of a sudden I had a dialogue and a story was wrapping itself around the words. I had to write it, so here it goes.**

* * *

"Okay, I told you," Finn said in a defeated tone. "But please, Razo, don't tell anyone - especially not Enna."

Razo's face brightened visibly, even in the darkness of night. "Now, there's an idea," he said teasingly.

Finn's eyes grew wide. "Please, Razo! I'm serious! Don't say a word to her!"

"Why not?" Razo demanded.

"Because she would eat me alive if she knew!" Finn answered.

"Oh, I doubt that." Enna's voice came from the stable's doorway behind them, making them both jump. "I haven't eaten anyone in almost three months," she joked. "Plus, I love you too much. You're safe. Now, what is it you don't want me to know?"

Finn looked down, silent, as usual. Razo pursed his lips, deciding whether to tell her or not. Then he smiled. "Oh, come on, Finn!" Razo said, punching his friend in the arm. "She won't eat you! And even if she does, I'm sure she'll cook you first; you won't feel a thing." The tip of one of Razo's spikes of hair flamed weakly. His hands flew up immediately to smother the fire. "Hey!" he yelled.

Enna snickered and moved to sit between the two boys in the cramped stall. "Come on, Finn! What is so bad that you can tell Razo but not me?" She thought about those words and added, "Wow, you must not trust me at all."

At the same time, Finn said, "You know that's not true, I-" and Razo said, "Hey! Lots of people trust me!" The three fell silent, then burst into sudden laughter.

Finn's laughs died quickly, and Enna's shortly after. "Come _on_, Finn! Just tell me!"

Finn was silent, and Razo was still laughing. Enna elbowed him, silencing him immediately. Then she turned back to Finn, who was not looking at her. Enna reached up and cupped her hand under Finn's chin, swiveling his head to look in her eyes. "Finn. . ." she started.

"O-kay!" Razo said loudly, standing urgently. Hay flew everywhere at the sudden movement. "I'm getting out of here _before_ the lovey-dovey begins. Plus, I don't want to be here when Enna-girl starts burning." He winked and ran out of the dark stables, but not before his hair caught fire again. "Really?" His exasperated cry broke through the still night air, though he was out of sight.

Both Enna and Finn couldn't hold their momentary chuckles. Then they were both serious again. Finn tried to look away from Enna, but she held his chin angled toward her. "Please," Enna said softly, "tell me?"

Finn shook his head.

Enna pulled her face into a pout. "Finn. . ." she whined.

He sighed and shook his head again.

Now Enna sighed and frowned, hunching over, dropping her hand. "But you could tell Razo?" She looked up, brow furrowed. "_Razo?_" she repeated.

Finn shrugged.

Suddenly Enna was angry. "Oh, what I wouldn't give for people-speaking right now!" she complained. "I'm not going to let this drop, you know."

He nodded.

"Oh, you're so quiet!" said Enna, frustrated. "_Say_ something!"

"Your eyes are lovely when you're angry," he observed. Without hesitation, he leaned in for a kiss.

Enna squirmed away from him and stood quickly. "I _will _figure it out," she vowed before stalking out of the stables.

Finn smiled after her, knowing she would never be able to guess.

* * *

"He admits he has a secret, but he won't tell me what it is!" Enna said to Isi later that night. Isi had just got Tusken to go back to sleep when Enna had come into the nursery, frustrated but quiet when she saw the sleeping boy. Now they whispered in the hall. "What could be so bad that he couldn't even tell me about it? And worse yet, that he _could_ tell Razo about?"

Isi shrugged. "Bayern's Own exclusive battle plans?"

Enna scoffed. "You don't believe that."

"Of course not," said Isi, smiling at her friend. "Maybe it's a male problem?"

"Oh, yeah," Enna said, each word dripping in sarcasm. "Razo's the first one I would think to see about that."

Patiently, Isi said, "Enna, dear, I do believe you're overreacting about this whole thing."

"Me?" said Enna, eyes feigning surprise. "Overreact? Never."

Isi eyed her skeptically.

"Isi!" Enna sounded exasperated. "Finn is my husband! He shouldn't be hiding things from me!"

"You know," Isi started, "when I first met Geric, we both lied to each other. Our relationship was based upon lies and unspoken words. Now look where we are today."

"Yes, but eventually, you both found out the truth, didn't you?" Enna asked.

Isi waved the question away with her hand.

"Ha!" said Enna. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to torture some information out of Razo."

* * *

"Can it wait til morning?" Razo's words rolled out together, syrupy with sleep.

"Of course not!" Enna said loudly. "I can force you, if necessary."

"Ha." Razo rolled over on his bed.

"All right, but you asked for it," said Enna.

Suddenly, a great wind opened the window with a crash. Razo sat bolt upright in bed as the wind swirled all around him. "All right, I'm up!" Razo yelled over the roar of the wind. Enna caused the wind to slow, and finally to stop.

"Now, that's just unnatural, Enna-girl," Razo said uneasily.

"That was nothing, compared to what Isi could have done," Enna pointed out, "but you're trying to make me forget why I'm here."

Razo sighed. "Finn can talk to rabbits."

"Be serious."

"I don't like to be serious!"

"I don't care. The sooner you tell me Finn's secret, the sooner you can go back to sleep."

"A tempting offer," Razo said, "but here is where I stand. I make jokes, but I think it's ultimately Finn's choice who he tells. I think you two are so deeply in love that you'll only be mad for a few seconds before you're just glad he trusts you." Razo made a gagging motion. "But Finn doesn't see it that way, I guess. And it is his decision."

Enna was speechless. Razo wasn't known for his sensitivity towards others' feelings. She sat there, shock melting her anger away.

"Hey, you asked me to be serious," Razo pointed out. "That's as close as it gets."

Then she stood, murmured a brief good-bye, and walked the palace halls back to the room she shared with her husband whenever they came to the city.

* * *

Of course, Finn was still awake. He sat by the fire, waiting for Enna. Enna calmly walked over to him and sat across from him by the fire. As usual, he said nothing. Enna didn't want to be the first to speak either, so they sat in silence for a long while, each trying to stare the other into speaking.

Finn won the stare-down. "I love you, Finn," Enna said, eyes shimmering in the firelight. "It doesn't matter what you did or whether you tell me. I will always love you." She leaned toward him and kissed him as if to prove it. Then she sat closer to him and wrapped her arms about him.

They sat in silence for a long while until Enna spoke again. "If you're not going to tell me what happened, at least tell me what I did to lose your trust."

At that Finn could be silent no longer. He put one hand on either of Enna's shoulders and held her at arms' length. His eyes bored into hers as he said, "Enna. I trust you more than you could ever know."

Enna looked away. "Doesn't seem like it."

Finn was quiet for a moment, an internal conflict rising in him. "I've been learning fire-speaking," he said quietly.

Shocked, Enna looked into Finn's eyes. "_What_?" she asked, making sure she'd heard him correctly.

Finn just stared back at her. He didn't need to repeat it.

"Wh-" Enna started, but she didn't know what to say. Questions raced around in her mind at top speed. She stood and began to pace the floor, one hand pressed to her head. "Why-" she tried again, then shook her head.

Finn waited.

Enna decided on a question: "How?" she asked.

He shrugged. "It just hit me one day that heat is everywhere. Things that don't emit heat are dead, but surely they wish to be reborn by fire. And I can make that happen. Suddenly, I just _understood_."

"But why would you _try_ to understand? You must have been looking for it. Don't you remember what it did to me?" Enna demanded. "I almost died because of my fire-speaking. It almost _killed_ me. More than once. Don't you remember?"

"Yes," Finn said quietly.

"Then why?" Enna asked.

Finn didn't answer.

"_Why?_" Enna persisted.

He stayed silent.

Enna took a much needed deep breath and tried to sort her jumbled thoughts. Finn was a fire-speaker now. How could sweet, quiet Finn want to play with fire? It just didn't compute in her brain. But he was characteristically not saying anything more about it.

Enna ran her hand through her hair. First things first. "Well, now we've got to teach you another language or you'll burn yourself up."

Finn shook his head. "Later," he said. "Maybe tomorrow. I see that you're tired. Let's get some rest."

Enna nodded in a daze. This was unreal. It just couldn't be happening. It was impossible. She thought that there was no way she would get any sleep tonight.

* * *

Enna woke to the sound of Finn getting up. "Mmmmm..." Enna moaned as she sat up. After a minute, her head cleared. She remembered. Then she looked at Finn sadly. "Well, we might as well start now."

"Start what?" Finn asked.

"Teaching you another language," Enna said. "It can take a while."

"What?" Finn repeated, confused. His brow furrowed as he eyed Enna.

"You have to learn another language to balance out your fire-speaking," Enna reminded him.

Finn was taken aback. "Fire-speaking?"

Enna nodded.

"But I can't do that," he said.

"Yes, you do," Enna said. "You told me last night."

"No, I don't think so," Finn disagreed.

"Really?" Enna asked. "Well, did I dream it then?"

"Must have," Finn concluded.

"Hmm," Enna said. She felt a lot better now that she didn't have to worry about Finn burning to a crisp. A weight lifted from her shoulders magically. "Okay. That's just fine with me."

"You'd better hurry up, or you'll be late for breakfast," Finn reminded her.

Enna realized that they had slept in today. Then she realized that she was still in the clothes she'd worn yesterday. "I don't really want to change anyway," she said. "No one will notice."

"All right," Finn said. "I'll meet you at breakfast."

Enna smiled, kissed Finn, and headed out to the hallway, smoothing her tunic and hair as she went.

Finn let out a huge sigh of relief as the fireplace suddenly burst into flames. That felt better.

Sometime today he needed to find Dasha and ask her to teach him water-speaking. (He chose Dasha because he was sure that Razo would let it slip to her anyway at some point.)

The truth was, Finn didn't want to speak another language; he barely used the first one he had learned. But it was too late for second thoughts now. Once he had learned water, he would be done. He'd never use any extraneous language again (a shame, for he seemed to have a gift for using fire), and only Razo and Dasha would know about it. Everything would be normal again.

Why had he even tried to learn fire-speaking in the first place? Was it the fact that Enna kept putting herself into dangerous situations because of it? Was it his natural instinct to protect Enna, and the knowledge that another language might help?

That was ! He knew Enna could take care of herself!

Finn sighed. He had no excuse, no reason. He wished he could redo it, wished that he could stop himself from messing with the elements. He left the room and dragged himself down the palace hallways.

* * *

After breakfast, Enna went to visit Conrad, a friend from their animal-keeping days. Finn started to go to Dasha, but Isi cut him off.

"Finn, can I talk to you?" Isi called.

Finn walked over to Isi, wondering what she wanted. He saw that her eyes were curious and concerned.

Isi looked around. The room was still half-filled with stragglers from breakfast and kitchen hands removing leftovers. "Come with me," she said. She assumed that Finn would not want anyone to overhear their conversation.

Isi lead him to an empty room where she liked to go to think. It was one of the smaller rooms in the palace. A circular rug adorned the stone floor. A stack of her favorite books sat in the corner. One simple chair was placed next to a small rectangular table. Several momentos from past adventures sat on shelves. A single window let light into the room and led to a wonderful veiw of the city. It was always quiet in here, for no one used the room. Isi had added her own touch and made it her own.

Isi closed the door behind them. She decided to cut to the chase. "So, you speak fire now?"

Finn was shocked. His eyes grew wide, but he said nothing.

"I heard it on the wind," Isi explained.

Finn's eyes grew even wider. Enna knew wind-speaking.

"Don't worry. I'm a little more practiced at listening to the wind than Enna is," Isi assured him, "but that might change in time."

Finn looked out the small window of Isi's little sitting room. He hadn't thought of that. What was he going to do?

Finn closed his eyes. He just wanted to shut out the world and sleep. He had spent all night wondering why he had confessed to Enna's suspicions. He could have denied everything and gone on with his original plan of asking for Dasha's help secretly. He had gone over every possible road he could take this mess. At about dawn, Finn had concluded that he would just have to play dumb when Enna woke up. She had fallen for it, but there was no fooling Isi.

"You won't tell Enna, will you?" Finn asked.

"No," Isi said. She studied his face, thinking.

"You didn't really want this, did you?" Isi asked.

Finn looked at her. He knew Isi was observant, but he also knew that she was not a mind-reader. He shook his head in response to her question.

Isi nodded. Then they were both quiet, looking out the little window.

Finn had an idea. Isi seemed to have a lot of intuition. Maybe she could answer his biggest question.

"Why did I do it?" Finn asked her. "I can't think of one reason."

Isi considered his question. After a moment, she said, "I think that subconsciously, you felt left out. Just about every one of your friends knows other languages. Maybe you only wanted to fit in."

Finn shook his head.

"I did say subconsciously," Isi pointed out.

Finn shook his head again.

"Well, you know yourself better than I do," Isi said, "but _you _asked_ me_."

Then they just stood there, each one of them pondering different things, until Isi heard a breeze telling her that Tusken needed her. Then she started for the door.

"Thank you, Isi," Finn told her before she left.

Isi smiled. "You're welcome. If you me to teach you wind-speaking, just let me know."

Finn nodded, and Isi left. Finn looked around at the small, cozy room. It was so comfortable that it seemed to be a whole different world from the one he had left behind that wooden door. He didn't want to leave, so he sat in the chair by the desk and just thought. He puzzled and mused over what he should do about this whole mess.

Eventually he decided that he would have to tell Enna the truth. It felt like the right thing to do. Plus, she would figure it out someday. The sooner he confessed, the less trouble he'd be in.

Having made up his mind, Finn stood and grudgingly left Isi's study, bracing himself to face Enna's fury.

* * *

**Well. That turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. And I think I could write more if I really wanted to. Huh. And to think it was all thanks to some simple words spoken in the girl's locker room! Please review!**


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